


A Broken Heart, A Busted Lip

by theobligatedklutz



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Andi is kind of a background character but we love her, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys Kissing, Buffy and Cyrus are best friends, Buffy is tired of Kira and T.J., Cyrus is a BAMF, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friends to Enemies, Homophobic Language, Kira is nasty, M/M, Minor Violence, Mostly a happy ending I mean, Swearing, T.J. and Cyrus are ex-best friends, T.J.'s dad is a bad dad, he sucks big time, hopefully i-, ice cream and swinging though, read the story it's not that confusing, so is my o.c.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 10:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19944346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theobligatedklutz/pseuds/theobligatedklutz
Summary: "What about you? Have you taken that lesson? Because you and Kira act exactly like them if not more toxic. You treat Buffy like trash and whatever ulterior motive you have being 'nice' to me, you can stop it right here. I'm not swayed. We aren't friends anymore. I don't think we ever were."Then, Cyrus was walking away again, feeling his heart sink down into his stomach and he couldn't figure out why.Or the one where TJ and Cyrus are ex-best friends and that doesn't last especially because they're TJ and Cyrus.





	A Broken Heart, A Busted Lip

**Author's Note:**

> BETA READER: TheGoodmanTJ

Cyrus had a history with TJ.

It all really started before their sophomore year of high school but it was on a cold December day in this said time that Cyrus broke an over three year unspoken silence between him and TJ.

TJ's blatantly rude and disrespectful behaviour towards Cyrus' friend, Buffy, was really what did it. 1) He had a best friend, Kira Wilson, who had a foul mouth and a sharp tongue, 2) both he and said best friend refused to pass Buffy the ball and 3) they constantly put her down about it.

The lash out was an ugly side of Cyrus, one he didn't pull out that often because it wasn't really him at all. It felt like all the anger Cyrus had stored up over the years came rushing to the surface and he didn't know how far he would've gone if it wasn't for Buffy's interference. 

The third biggest game of the season had just started and Cyrus had finally gotten basketball down for Buffy's sake. He knew what a 'dribble' and 'travelling' meant and understood what position Buffy played and even learned what roles TJ and Kira had on the court so he could understand their problem with Buffy. But as the game progressed, he learned that there wasn't a problem with the game itself, the two clearly had a personal issue with Buffy. 

He watched as Kira passed the ball to TJ and Buffy flung her arms up gesturing she was open, standing close in TJ's line of sight but TJ proceeded to ignore her and instead, shot the ball into the basket with a victorious smile on his face.

Afterwards when TJ and Kira were high fiving and congratulating each other and Buffy sighed because she was just so used to it already, Cyrus made a plan in his head because he'd had about enough.

So when Buffy left the changing room after the game and they walked out together, Cyrus made a beeline towards TJ's locker. A crowd of basketball players had gathered around the captain.

"Hey!" Cyrus yelled, trying to get through to TJ and Kira but neither had heard him and that just angered him more.

" _Hey_!" 

That got the attention of everyone in the hallway who'd stayed after the game and they all looked up at the sound of his voice. But Cyrus only had eyes for the two that had been making his best friend's life a living nightmare. She just wanted to play the game she loved so much. Buffy had always been good at it and Cyrus remembered last year, when she made the team and the excitement on her face when she told him. That didn't last long because turns out TJ was captain and his best friend, Kira, was manipulative and plain nasty.

"What the hell is your problem?" Cyrus growled, red in the face. That peaked TJ's interest. Why was Cyrus Goodman, of all people, so mad at him all of a sudden? Aside from the obvious reasons that is.

"What are you talking about?" TJ asked, pushing past his teammates, studying Cyrus with narrowed eyes.

"You're a team, right? So why the hell won't you pass my friend the ball?" He exclaimed, his hands still balled up into fists at his side.

"Oh, you're talking about Buffy." A smile grew on TJ's face. He was mocking Cyrus. The nerve of this guy!

"Oh my god- Pass Buffy the damn ball, you fuc-!"

"Hey, hey. No need for name calling now. We can work this out." TJ grinned, a sweetness to the tilt of his lips.

Cyrus couldn't comprehend how he had ever seen something in TJ that he actually liked. God, he was so dumb. TJ was a mess of sneer and superiority, and nothing else. Nothing more. He was nothing more to Cyrus. He had repeated it enough that he was starting to believe it.

"So Driscoll, you can't even stand up for yourself now?" Kira snorted, falling in step with TJ. Buffy felt a hot flash of anger in her bones, wanting nothing more than to lunge at Kira. But she knew Kira was only doing it to get a rise out of her and Buffy was not about to give her the satisfaction.

Not now. Not when she had seen the crowds forming and the last thing she wanted was to make a scene and have Kira and TJ tell the coach how she and Cyrus had started a fight. That wouldn't bode well for her already miserable basketball career. So Buffy did what was simpler at the moment and she dragged her friend away by the arm, away from TJ's dumb smile and Kira's glare.

"Hey! I'm not done! Buffy!" 

"Yeah, you are." Buffy claimed, holding Cyrus arm firmly as she pulled him outside to avoid the scene he, _they_ , were about to make.

********

_They found themselves in a corner booth at Scoop, an ice cream parlour down the street from the park, eating ice cream to chase away the August heat that stuck to their skin with a determined tackiness. Cyrus with his double scoop of choco chip and vanilla, instead of his usual single, and TJ had ordered cookie dough and sprinkles._

_Cyrus always scrunched up his nose at the disgusting combination TJ chose to eat but the boy swore up and down that it tasted like heaven and Cyrus found that cute. The fact of the matter was he found everything about his best friend cute these days._

_"I'm trying out for the basketball team this year." TJ opened up the conversation with a nervous little chuckle._

_"Oh," Cyrus, caught off guard, quickly pasted on a toothy smile. "Cool. I'm excited for you."_

_Truth be told, Cyrus was a little anxious about the whole thing._

_They were starting middle school and he needed TJ by his side just so he didn't feel out of place in a new environment. TJ had a way of making everything better, making everything new feel a little more comfortable and Cyrus was counting on that. Counting on TJ to be that safety net that Cyrus could fall back on when everything went to hell in Jefferson Middle School._

_But basketball._

_Basketball meant time away from TJ and Cyrus hanging out together. Basketball meant new friends with shared interests and new friends meant a chance for Cyrus to be replaced. He knew he couldn't have TJ all to himself forever but why did it still feel so hard to swallow._

_"You have chocolate right there." TJ pointed to the side of his mouth._

_Cyrus wiped at his face with the back of his hand but TJ chuckled when the boy missed the spot completely. He stretched a hand out to cup Cyrus' face, wiping the smear of ice cream at the corner of his lips with his thumb._

_That was the second time that year that TJ had made his heart beat a thunderous drum only with a gentle gesture and a simple smile-_

**"** **_Oh my God_ ** **, I can't stand them!"**

He woke up with a sharp jolt, hearing the bang against his door and the stomping of feet. But when he looked up at the perpetrator of his dreams, -- well, not a dream but a distant memory -- Buffy stood there frozen.

"I'm so sorry! Did I wake you?" Buffy looked panicked like she had committed a crime, and Cyrus chuckled. "Your dad said you were awake and I thought-"

"Buffy, it's okay. It's okay. I just dozed off for like a minute." Cyrus reassured, patting at a spot on his bed, gesturing for her to sit.

Buffy hopped up onto his bed, making the mattress shake with the intensity and Cyrus nudged at her with his foot. "Don't get so close, B." 

"Don't worry. I don't get sick."

He rolled his eyes at the comment and Buffy threw him a glare. 

"It's true!"

"Yeah. Yeah. What did I miss today? What were you growling about when you got in here?" He continued, sitting up more comfortably and pulling his box of Kleenex closer.

"Oh trust me, I'm glad you weren't at school. The demonic presences were sinning against the muffin gods today." Buffy wiggled her finger around for dramatic effect and Cyrus avoided the urge to roll his eyes again.

Cyrus feigned shock, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he blew into another tissue. "No, not the muffin gods!"

"Cyrus, I'm serious. They were...I saw them stepping on CCCMs. For fun." 

"Wait, no... You're not serious?" Cyrus looked up at her for confirmation and Buffy nodded her head forlornly, her hand shooting out to grab Cyrus when he almost fell out of his bed in infuriation.

TJ and Kira were once again proving to be pains in asses for both Buffy and Cyrus. With the way Cyrus was fuming and muttering curses under his breath, there was animosity there ready to strike out at the terrible two but he refrained just like he had every time TJ or Kira didn't pass Buffy the ball. 

It had only been a week since Cyrus had almost given TJ a piece of his mind and Buffy could not let a repeat of that happen. 

What had surprised her was the way Cyrus had almost lost his usually calm and civil demeanor that day and it made her wonder how in the world TJ and Cyrus could've been best friends once upon a time. It also seriously made her question whether they'd really ended their friendship on a neutral note like Cyrus said they had, especially seeing the way her best friend grit his teeth at the mention of TJ Kippen.

"Can't believe you used to be friends with that jerk." Buffy cut through his thoughts, trying to read more into his reaction, and Cyrus grimaced at the mention of TJ once again.

Buffy finding out about TJ had been a fun experience. If fun meant stepping on needles or swallowing glass. They had been in his room, doing homework, and Buffy had suddenly tackled him, and started tickling him. He had gone weak in her arms, a mess of flinging limbs trying to get Buffy to stop and without thinking, he slipped up and uttered the words "Teej, stop it, stop it" between giggles. Buffy had frozen and proceeded to ask a hundred and ten questions about who 'Teej' was. She didn't know but she was twisting his arm too far behind his back but he couldn't tell her that.

"Yeah, me neither." Cyrus sighed and Buffy knew not to linger on the subject.

"You want me to make you my Grandma Paisley's famous chicken soup? I know the recipe by heart." Buffy asked, kissing the top of Cyrus' head as he pouted and crossed his arms. 

"No, but can your Grandma Paisley pummel TJ and Kira into the ground?" Cyrus groaned, lying back down on his pillow.

They both busted out laughing, imagining a 81 year old woman whooping TJ and Kira's ass.

"No can do, Cy. Anything else?" Buffy said, in between chuckles.

"Get me a protective boyfriend who can pummel TJ and Kira into the ground?"

"One day, Cy."

_Probably never._ Cyrus was too used to that thought. Especially after what happened in the August before 7th grade.

********

"Why weren't you at school for the past few days?" 

Cyrus looked up to see Buffy's mortal enemy (and now his) falling in step with him while he was on his way to class. He'd painted a target on his back the minute he'd insulted the captain in front of his teammates and he shouldn't have been the least bit surprised that TJ was now following him around, probably waiting for the right time to connect his fist into Cyrus' face. But what did surprise him was the fact that after all these years, TJ had finally approached him and it brought the heart ache back in his chest, the one he'd felt every time in TJ's presence since the last few years. 

"What?"

"I saw Buffy sitting with your art friend. But I didn't see you."

"The _art friend's_ name is Andi. And I was sick. But why is that any of your business, muffin murderer?"

"I- _what?_ " There was this loud confusion on TJ's face that would've been laughable if it weren't for the fact that Cyrus was never in the mood to be happy around the boy.

TJ stopped Cyrus with a hand to the shoulder. "What?"

"Buffy told me about you stepping on muffins." 

Outloud, it sounded pitiful and ridiculous. You could hear the scorn in his voice and as much as he wanted to take the words back, they were out there now.

But could you blame him? He really had a bone to pick with TJ about wasting food willy nilly, especially food that smelled so rich and tasted so fine.

"It was a bet. Kira bet me that she could step on more muffins before feeling guilty. I tapped out at three muffins and had a nightmare about it too." TJ explained, a slight panic quickly taking over the tone of his voice.

"Still not a saint." 

"At least, there's remorse involved. Does that mean nothing to you?" 

"Remorse doesn't make you a saint." Cyrus pursed his lips, forcing down the years of old anger back in the pandora's box that rested in his soul and instead, turned away from TJ and opened the door to his classroom.

"Are we still talking about muffins?"

"Not really." Then Cyrus was stepping into his English class, not glancing back at the crestfallen look on TJ's face. 

******

Cyrus didn't remember exactly when he had started crushing on TJ. Maybe it was when they played Mario Kart together in 5th to 6th grade and TJ got this cute little victory smirk on his face every time he beat Cyrus. Or maybe it was the many trips to Scoop after their days of swinging in the park. Those trips, for some reason, still plagued his dreams now and again. And those dreams were the only thing holding Cyrus back from moving on from TJ.

All he knew was that the dreams and the thrumming of his heart and the nervous murmur in his stomach around TJ had started somewhere in the last few years of elementary and had never stopped.

Cyrus didn't fully understand what those feelings were, not until 8th grade when Andi described her crush on Jonah Beck and the description matched his feelings towards TJ to a T. But by that epiphany, TJ was no longer part of his life. 

Even with it being years ago, their friendship rusted, Cyrus still found himself looking in the crowds, searching for blonde hair and green eyes because he really missed TJ. So much. How had the pain never lessened? 

But unlike Cyrus, TJ moved on easily. TJ looked at him like he was a stranger. Like when he gazed at him, he was actually just looking through Cyrus. It almost seemed like their friendship had all been one big hallucination in Cyrus' head. Not real.

_"Was he always an asshole?" Buffy had asked once. They were laying on Cyrus' living room couch, their heads hanging off the edge of the seat, completely exhausted by the beat down Grant High had provided them upon their entrance. It had been two weeks since they had started their freshman career at this point and they already wanted to say_ Senora _but they refused to give up that easily._

_"Who?"_

_"You know who."_

_"TJ? No...he wasn't."_

_Buffy had her first encounter with TJ Kippen that day and it hadn't been a good one. She was at basketball tryouts and TJ had shoved her making her trip over her feet and tumble to the ground. He proceeded to glare at her and walked away with the basketball dribbling in his hand._

_"Back when I first met him, he was really nice. Not the guy you met today, I can promise you that." Cyrus replied as he counted the few bumps on the otherwise smooth wall across the couch from them._

_"There was this boy in my 1st grade class, Timothy Geralden. He used to throw me around and I mean bruises and nosebleeds kind of stuff. Once, he shoved me off the swings so hard I got a bloody knee and I started crying and TJ just comes along and pushes Timothy to the ground in retaliation... It was the first time somebody stood up for me. And after that, we were stuck to the hip."_

_"Oh."_

_"Yeah." Cyrus turned to Buffy then, seeing the confusion on her face. How had the hero become the villain then?_

_"So what the fuck happened?"_

_"He got into basketball, I got into drama club. We drifted and he became friends with Kira W. and you and Andi came into my life."_

_It had been an answer Cyrus had practised to perfection and so when it left his mouth that day with a smoothness that matched honey, he almost believed it himself._

_"Ok, I know that part. What happened to him? Why is he so...?"_

_"Such an asshole. Heard you the first time." Cyrus rolled his eyes at the raspberry Buffy blew at him. "I don't know...I think maybe...maybe he turned into the company he keeps."_

_When Buffy looked over at Cyrus, she caught something intense, something she hadn't seen before -- not since she knew him anyway -- this look of sadness and heartache etched into Cyrus' eyes. And that look resided in his eyes for a long time that afternoon. It was there when she suggested they play cards and it was there when they grabbed milkshakes at The Spoon later on. It was still there when she asked if she could stay the night. Nothing she did or said made his big brown eyes any less broken._

*******

Exactly five minutes before lunch ended, Cyrus waved Buffy and Andi goodbye and approached his locker to grab his textbook for his next class, only for him to be completely caught off guard by the paper taped to his locker. 

He was expecting a slur, an insult, a threat. Things were not exactly looking good for him. He had a total of five guys from the team glare at him since he'd entered school this morning and two of them had been actively throwing spitballs at him during Math. On his way out of class, one of the guys knocked into him so hard that he had fallen to the ground, and it still hurt to move his right arm and shoulder. But he trudged on because nothing was going to intimidate him into changing his stance on how the damn team treated Buffy and he would stand up at every occasion if he had to if it made Buffy's life less insufferable. That's what best friends were for, right?

But what really caught him off guard was the chicken scratch drawing of a muffin with a sad face, the words SORRY scribbled under it and Cyrus felt his heart melt just a little. _TJ._

This was almost too sweet a sentiment to be true. The boy couldn't treat Buffy right, and for God's sake, he hurt Cyrus and never apologized so why would this apology hold any weight? 

Here's the thing too, Buffy had tried to reach out and figure things out -- why TJ and Kira treated her like that, why they just couldn't treat her like one of their teammates because she was one -- and she was nice about it but she was shut down every time. And now, she didn't care for their shit anymore. 

After the first game of the season this year, she was dead set on quitting and joining the track team instead.

"I'll get over it. I love running just the same." She had said.

But coach wouldn't let her, he said she had too much potential but the fact of the matter was, she hadn't scored once this whole season. And on top of that, Cyrus wouldn't let her.

_"Warriors are not the ones who always win but the ones who always fight."_

_"Seriously? You're really pulling some inspirational quote shit to make me feel guilty enough to stay on a team with TJerk Kippen?"_

_"Yes. Yes, I am."_

"Hey."

Cyrus yelped and jerked at the voice behind him, the movement jostled his shoulder enough to startle an exploding pain. He groaned, grabbing at his arm before he could think better of it and when he opened his eyes to yell at the owner of said voice for scaring him, TJ stood there with a truly out of place look of concern on his face. He hadn't seen it for a long time and Cyrus stared at him in wonderment, it was such a strange, yet endearing look on TJ's face. 

"-you okay?"

It made him look nothing like the stupid jerk that Cyrus had come to known. It was a look old TJ would pull and Cyrus hadn't seen his best friend in years.

"Cyrus!"

"What?!" 

"What's wrong with your arm?" TJ's hand reached out to touch his shoulder and Cyrus pulled away, his back hitting the metal of his locker, the crackle of paper against his head but most distinguished, the hissing pain in his arm yet again but this time, he hid it. Not well, because TJ saw the slight twist of his features.

"What the fuck happened?" He still looked worried, but there was anger mixing into his expression now and those two combined made TJ look scary, not intimidating basketball captain scary but like a...like a protective best friend scary. But Cyrus could have easily been wrong, he wasn't exactly PhD in that school of expressions.

"Cyrus…" 

When had TJ gotten so close? There was almost no space left between TJ and him and nowhere to go with the way he stood pressed against the lockers and TJ's overbearing body.

Cyrus cleared his throat and let his arm go in favour of pushing lightly at TJ's chest to signal that he needed some space and TJ obliged, realizing with wide eyes how close he was to Cyrus, how he had caged the boy in.

"I'm okay." Cyrus replied, turning his back to TJ and pulling open his locker, taking it slow as he grabbed up his stuff.

"I don't think so." TJ scoffed, watching Cyrus closely for any sign of another flinch.

"Why do you even care, _Kippen_? Shouldn't you be hanging out with your _best friend_ Kira?"

TJ bristled at Cyrus' tone and swallowed. "I'm just trying to be nice-"

"No, you don't get to be nice to me but treat my best friend like shit. And I know what you're playing at, playing nice while your douchebag friends jerk me around."

Cyrus had about enough of TJ and his goonies. He slammed his locker shut, grabbed up his backpack where it landed on the ground during the scare and pushed away from TJ, just wanting to get to class already.

"What the hell are you talking about?" TJ hissed out, cutting him off in his escape.

"You know what I mean." Cyrus tried to move past him but TJ was not having it this time, his body hulking over Cyrus again in his attempt to intimidate the boy into answering his question. 

"No, I really don't."

"They've been throwing me threatening looks all morning and one of your friends pretty much body checked me. A great welcome back, don't you think?" Cyrus glared up into TJ's green eyes, turning back to his locker and ripping the stupid muffin drawing off his locker. He crumpled it up into a ball and shoved it at TJ's chest before walking off. And this time, TJ didn't stop him. 

********

When Cyrus shuffled into Math class the next day, he was prepared for the looks of hatred and the body damage he was probably going to suffer. What he didn't see coming was the basketball players looking away from Cyrus the minute he looked over at them, their eyes going anywhere but in his direction. He was also horrified to note that blondie, the one who had clipped him yesterday, nursed a nasty black eye.

"What the hell did you do?" Cyrus exclaimed when class ended and he approached TJ who stood leaning against his locker.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you did it. Not a coincidence that the day after I tell you about your friends, they look like they've taken some beating or at least, are threatened enough to not even give me another look. What the-" The furiousness curled up in Cyrus' eyes and it didn't make sense why he'd be fuming.

"First of all, they're not my friends, they're my teammates. Second of all, I took care of your little problem, what the hell are you complaining about?" TJ asked, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets and raising a brow at the boy in front of him.

"You didn't take care of anything, TJ. If I wanted them thrown around, I would've asked Andi. She could beat their ass and yours up and down. But I didn't, I didn't want them hurt. You're just proving my point about you being a dumb brute who likes beating others down and not treating your teammates like your friends like you're supposed-"

"Wait, your puny artist friend can beat-"

There was exasperation on Cyrus' face and he wanted to throttle TJ but he sighed instead.

"Not the point, but yes and don't call her puny, she's a black belt and she can break your arm, dumbass."

"God, ok. I didn't put them in their place for you. I did it for me. It was a good opening to teach them an important lesson on high school hierarchy and how not to exploit the power they do have."

"What about you? Have you taken that lesson? Because you and Kira act exactly like them if not more toxic. You treat Buffy like trash and whatever ulterior motive you have being 'nice' to me, you can stop it right here. I'm not swayed. We aren't friends anymore. I don't think we ever were." 

Then, Cyrus was walking away _again_ , feeling his heart sink down into his stomach and he couldn't figure out why.

********

_It was the last Saturday before 7th grade when Cyrus felt his heart lose itself to TJ Kippen for the first and last time._

_TJ was teaching Cyrus how to shoot baskets at the local court and Cyrus seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated by the uncompromising heat and the basketball that went anywhere but in the basket._

_"This is so stupid. I'm never gonna get one in." Cyrus sighed, looking to the side at TJ who stood close attempting to improve Cyrus' posture. TJ's hair looked golden in the sun and freckles were forming on his shoulders from the hot waves. He looked beautiful but Cyrus kept that thought to himself._

_He turned around in TJ's arms and pushed the ball into his chest. "Show me again."_

_"Okay." TJ chirped up, his eyes twinkling with the prospect of teaching Cyrus a little about the sport he loved so much. Cyrus stepped back to watch him, smiling at the way TJ looked so comfortable, like playing basketball was second nature._

_"How come you never talked about basketball?" Cyrus asked him as he sat down on the bench nearby._

_"I knew you wouldn't really be into it." TJ shrugged his shoulders, looking back at him before shooting another basket._

_"But I care about what you like."_

_"I know, I just-" TJ was cut off by the sound of an ice cream truck jingling down the street._

_"Come on, you can make it up to me -- for thinking that I'm so selfish that I wouldn't care for your interests -- with ice cream." Cyrus jumped up off the bench and made his way to the truck that already had a line starting up._

_"Cy, you know that's not why I didn't tell you."_

_Cyrus stayed silent through their whole wait in the line to the truck, even going as far as to not answer when TJ asked about which flavour he wanted (and that was something new for Cyrus Goodman, he would tell you what he wanted when it came to ice cream because he was meticulous about his flavours). Even after TJ placed a cone in his hand and paid the man, he walked away without a word._

_"So why didn't you?" Cyrus broke the silence after 15 minutes of quietly licking at their ice cream and TJ startled, looking up at his best friend with hopeful eyes. So Cyrus wasn't mad, thank god. He didn't question it though, in fear that it would make Cyrus clam up again._

_"Because it would take away from spending time with you."_

_Cyrus found himself a little more than mad at TJ's dumbass excuse. So that's why he spent every recess playing with him instead of playing basketball with the others kids. Total and utter bull._

_And that's what Cyrus told him, driving the point home by shoving his chocolate cone into TJ's nose._

_They both froze for a second, the glob of ice cream melting off of TJ's nose and slipping down his chin and Cyrus mentally berated his actions but became less aware of what he had done when TJ looked up at him, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Then, they were both laughing and TJ jumped up to take revenge on Cyrus but the brunette was quick on his feet, laughing harder and sprinting away from TJ's attacks._

_But as much as he was quick, he was also a klutz on his feet and wasted no time tripping and landing on his back in the grass. TJ ended up following him to the ground in his fits of laughter. And that's when everything went to shit really._

_When the laughs dissipated, Cyrus realized that TJ was incredibly close to his face, the boy in question hovering over him with this gentle look in his eyes. And then they were kissing. Cyrus didn't even remember who started kissing who. All he knew was one minute they were staring at each other and the next, his best friend was kissing him softly and enthusiastically and he tasted TJ's strawberry sherbet ice cream on his lips and forgot that there was a whole world around them-_

_TJ pulled away first, with wide eyes and an expression of regret that plucked Cyrus' heart right out of his chest and crushed it. He stood up hastily, whispering a quick "I gotta go" before running off and leaving Cyrus stunned and confused on the grass._

_That was the day he lost TJ Kippen forever. Because that day TJ decided he no longer wanted anything to do with Cyrus Goodman._

To avoid embarrassment on both their parts, Cyrus told anyone who asked that they just drifted apart. Even though in reality, he was the case of a broken heart and a despairing loss of a friend who had never really been his friend.

*******

"Hey Ands, I wasn't expecting you here." Cyrus raised a brow at Andi, stealing a pretzel from the ziplock bag sitting in her lap.

"I thought I would come to support Buffy this time, take a load off your shoulders." Andi answered with a smile as Cyrus settled down next to her on the bleachers.

"Since I kinda figured out the game, it's not been as boring as I thought. Now if only Buffy felt less miserable about it."

"And she will." Andi answered, shoving a hand in the duffle bag sitting next to her feet.

Cyrus noticed the posters around them, various cheers written out in flashy red and yellow and dark blue bubble letters and he sighed. _TJ Slam Dunkin' Kippen. Ugh, how cheesy._

It had been a good two weeks since Cyrus last saw TJ. The boy stopped approaching him and a lump of coal formed around the piece of his heart where TJ still resided. Look, it was a steep path between love and hatred. Cyrus had been best friends with him, straight up crushing on TJ at one point and now, all he saw was a guy who was out of his league and out of the realm of morality.

"How will she manage to do that when all she sees are TJ Kippen posters in the crowds?"

"Don't worry. We'll be cheering her on tonight. The right way." Andi had noticed his look of despair at how much love TJ had at the sidelines while Buffy had none, and how discouraging that must've been for their friend. Buffy never showed it but it hurt to see that she never got a chance to prove her skills to her team or the school. 

Andi slipped Cyrus a rolled up piece of cardboard and he unfurled it to take a look at the words _Buffy the Basketball Slayer_ in big gold letters on a royal blue background. Suddenly, Cyrus had more of an appreciation for Andi's never-ending kindness and support.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"

"Not enough." 

"I know. But I do. A lot." He replied, throwing an arm around her in a warm side hug.

The game started like every other one but something had changed. Something had happened. The team dynamic was...different. Cyrus wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't watched the twenty games and then some in his determination to learn how basketball worked. They acted more like a team sans Kira who still had a snooty little pout across her face. TJ was talking to them like an actual captain would, huddling like they had a game plan.

And in a total shocking turn of events, Buffy was doing the one thing Cyrus never expected her to do. She was smiling at TJ. _Smiling_. And lo and behold, once the game started, TJ was quick to pass her the ball and… and… and Buffy fucking _scored_ . She scored. _She scored. Buffy Driscoll scored her first ever ball in the fourth big game of the season and TJ had been the one to pass her the throw._

"I thought you said TJ didn't pass Buffy the ball...Like ever." Andi asked just as confused and surprised.

"He doesn't..." Cyrus breathed out, frozen in his movement and then TJ was high fiving Buffy and he turned back to look directly at Cyrus and he smiled, his lips turning up in a small, soft expression.

What the hell was going on? Was this a dream? This had to be a dream? Why did his heart feel like it was going to explode? 

The game went on without a hitch. Buffy scored more goals than most of the other team players and Cyrus pinched himself four times in a span of two hours in the hopes that he'd wake up because he didn't wanna get his hopes up about Buffy actually being happy in the same room as TJ but he didn't wake up and it made him smile and tear up about the whole thing.

After the game, Buffy ran up to him and circled her arms around him in a crushing hug, whispering a repetition of thank yous in his ear and before he could question it, the team whisked her away in a chant of _Buffy! Buffy! Buffy!_ and Andi ran after her, giggling in excitement. Cyrus turned to follow Andi and Buffy but froze at the voice so close behind him.

"That was an olive branch."

Cyrus turned around to see TJ, in all his bright after game glory, standing there smiling at him. 

"What?" 

"I took your advice, I fixed up the team and I talked it out with Buffy. I took my own lesson into account." TJ brought a hand up in a manner of truce and Cyrus stared at it like it was an illusion, like if he touched it he would wake up from his dream. And how he had dreamt about TJ smiling at him again but that deep aching pain in his chest was back and he knew he couldn't accept this even if he so badly wanted to. TJ was presenting a peace offering and Cyrus was stuck.

"You apologized to Buffy?" 

He still hadn't brought his hand up to shake TJ's and his arm shook a little at his side, the urge to accept the action for what it was --an apology -- once again arose but Cyrus swallowed it down. He had learned his lesson when it came to TJ and he wouldn't show him his vulnerability ever again.

"Yeah. She hasn't fully forgiven me but I'm working on it."

"And what about Kira?"

"She'll come around." TJ replied, his smile turning nervous.

"And if she doesn't?"

"I know her, she will. She's a good person -- don't look at me like that -- she really is. She just needs time to adjust. But in the case she doesn't, I won't go back to my ways." 

"Good." That was the only thing Cyrus said before turning away, leaving TJ hanging and for once, not regretting his actions even with tears floating like highrise waves in his eyes.

" _Cyrus_ -" TJ yelled after him but stopped abruptly when Cyrus turned around with a sharp glare.

"What? Did you expect a consolation prize for being, uh I don't know, a good person for once in your life?"

TJ's face fell, he'd never seen Cyrus so angry and the paralysing thought he'd buried deep down came rushing back: _Cyrus had never forgiven him._

*******

"TJ told me about what really happened between you two." Buffy broke the air of indifference Cyrus had built around himself a week later.

They were playing checkers and Cyrus decidedly didn't look up at her statement, not wanting to react in a way that would prove whatever TJ had told her as truth or lie.

"Oh yeah?" Cyrus replied, moving his red piece to capture Buffy's black one on the next square. "Sure."

"I know about what happened at the park, Cy." Buffy prodded again, unknowingly gouging at a wound within Cyrus that still had yet to fully heal.

"I think...I'm gonna go home." Cyrus said suddenly, as he grabbed up his backpack from where it sat to the side of Buffy's bed, pulling it on in haste.

"Cy, please talk to me." Buffy said slowly, her voice wobbling a little at how sad it made her to see the usually cheerful Cyrus being quiet and clammed up.

"There's nothing to talk about. He shouldn't have told you. He had no right. He wasn't the one-" Cyrus snapped his mouth shut, pushing his face into his hands. "Nevermind. I'll be alright." He continued in a muffled voice before walking out of Buffy's bedroom.

_I'll be alright. Just not tonight._

Buffy sighed, looking down at the board where the game stayed untouched. Except, it wasn't so untouched, Cyrus had won but he hadn't said his usual words of victory.

_"And the Goodmaster wins again!"_

_"That sounds like a kitchen equipment."_

_"You're just jealous!"_

********

"What is going on with you?" Kira asked, lacing up her shoes for practice. "You're not acting like yourself, Teej."

"Nothing." TJ muttered, stretching and touching the tips of his toes.

"Come on, TJ. It's not like you to hide something from me." Kira stepped up next to her best friend, nudging him with a shoulder.

"I said nothing, Kira. So _nothing_." TJ snapped, straightening up and glaring at his friend.

"What is your problem-"

"My problem? You wanna know my problem? My problem is you and my dad and everyone else who made me feel like less of a person. Made me feel bad enough about myself that I lost the one person I actually fucking care about!" 

"Kippen, is there a problem?" Coach Alvin exclaimed, blowing his whistle and marching up to the two.

"You know what, Coach, there is. I can't play today. Not with her." TJ scoffed, gesturing towards Kira, before shuffling towards the gym exit in anger.

The team watched him go, Kira's mouth agape and Buffy looking over at TJ with sad eyes but disappointment sat firmly in most of the players' faces.

Their captain was crumbling. 

"Kippen! Come back here! _TJ_!" Coach Alvin called after him but the shouts fell on deaf ears. TJ didn't even turn around.

*****

Cyrus just wanted this week to be over. Really, he wanted a hole to appear in the ground and swallow him whole. But there were some things that he could only wish for and never have. 

_Like TJ._ His mind unhelpfully suggested. **_No, not him._ ** _Right, Cy._

He was now talking to himself. He was straight up losing it.

All this week, it felt like wherever he went, TJ was there. At one point, Cyrus was convinced that the boy was stalking him but then he realized that he had just gotten so used to ignoring TJ's presence that when Cyrus had decidedly approached him about Buffy, he had opened the doors to acknowledging TJ again. And that was painful, the ache in his soul was no longer dormant.

To really hammer the nail into his coffin, he had so many recurring dreams about spending time with TJ at the ice cream parlour, at the swings, the kiss, all of it, that it made him want to pull his hair out and hide in his room forever because it made seeing TJ all the more hellish.

He shut his locker and shook his head to get his mind clear, pushing a binder in his backpack. But before he could pull his bag on and go find Buffy, who was still probably at the gym, he was being shoved back.

His back flared up with a burning pain, a sharp tingle running up his spine.

He didn't expect to see blondie again, not after TJ had given him a shiner for knocking into Cyrus' shoulder about a month ago, but here he was holding him against the lockers, his fists balled up into Cyrus' flannel.

"You're done now." He sneered, close enough for Cyrus to smell the ashy tone of cigarette on his breath. "I know you think you have the captain in your back pocket but the team draws the line when your shit starts affecting his performance."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cyrus hissed, holding a steady gaze and an air of _you don't scare me._

He cased his surroundings. Two other guys from the team and _Kira_ standing around him, watching the whole scene nonchalantly.

Cyrus shouldn't have been the least bit surprised to see Kira orchestrating the mob to finish him off. Buffy always did tell him he'd get jumped for his smart mouth and his determination to do the right thing. The world was sad and cruel and people like him got crushed like cockroaches under heeled boots. Or more suitably, beaten by fists.

Yeah, so he was a little scared but he couldn't show it, if he broke, it'd only be easier for them to push him down.

"Yeah, right, you little bitc-" 

"Devon, get the fuck off him. We're just here to talk." 

"Talk, right!" Cyrus scoffed, rolling his eyes to drive the point home that there wouldn't be any talking happening with the way this had all started and for his effort, blondie -- Devon -- slammed him back against the lockers, pulling a groan out of Cyrus' mouth. 

"Get off me." He gritted out, his face twisting into a glare.

"Or what?"

For once in Cyrus' life, he wished he had taken lessons with Andi so he could beat Devon's ass to Sunday.

Kira settled a hand on Devon's shoulder and like an obedient dog, he backed off but Cyrus stayed leaning against the lockers, waiting for what new threat was about to leave Kira Wilson's mouth.

"What did you say to TJ?" A hard look settled over Kira's face and she stepped closer to him, attempting to intimidate him and Cyrus would've laughed. He was immune to TJ's tactics so what made Kira think that he'd start trembling in her presence, no matter how many guys she pulled to do the grunt work.

"Nothing."

" _Cyrus_ , don't make this hard. I know you said something." 

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?" Cyrus asked, a smirk slowly dancing up onto his face. Kira really thought she was some big shit, huh.

"Listen, this is all pretty crystal clear. TJ starts hanging around you and then, he thinks he can just leave us out to dry with the next home game less than 2 months away. You get what I'm throwing?" 

"He's obviously trying to turn TJ gay." One of the guys standing just behind Kira sneered and that struck a nerve within Cyrus and for a second, all he saw was hot seething red. He gulped down his anger and rolled his hands into fists, so tightly that he knew there were bloody crescent shapes in the palms of his hands.

"What I'm getting is you need to stop watching _Law & Order _ and instead, spend your time reigning in your _fucking guard dogs_ better."

That caused a collective wave of furious anger to pass across the group, Devon bristled at the comment and the next thing, he was up in Cyrus' face again. "What the fuck did you call us?"

"You. Heard. Me." Cyrus spat, emphasizing each word for the dense.

See, Cyrus should've seen the fist coming, he had provoked it. But it still shocked him to the core when pain blossomed in his lower lip and he bounced off of the lockers and fell to the ground, pushing his hands against the linoleum floor to cushion his fall at the last second.

He stared down at the blood that dribbled down his chin and fell to the floor, a dark red stark against the off white of the tiles.

How hard had Devon hit him? 

Before he could figure it out though, Devon was flipping him around so he was on his back and Devon was looming over him, bringing another hit down towards his face.

Cyrus was hit with an odd sense of déjà vu and his mind flashed back to a hazy vision of a park and an ice cream truck but then, that thought disappeared along with his vision when a fist landed on the side of his head. 

Everything went black for all of one minute.

*******

"Ow."

"Hold still." TJ mumbled as he settled a butterfly bandage over Cyrus' torn lip. 

"I'm okay." Cyrus rasped out, still not meeting TJ's eyes and instead, looking at the cabinet just behind his shoulder.

They had somehow ended up in TJ's kitchen, Cyrus settled on top of the counter while TJ stood in front of him, trying to staunch the injuries to his face.

Cyrus remembered parts. Devon had landed a few more punches, he was pretty sure his eye was bruising. Somewhere in between the fiasco, TJ had come in and pushed Devon off. The thought that had run through Cyrus' mind in the moment was _he had been right, TJ was stalking him._

Buffy had been there too, yelling at Kira and telling her to go and for some reason, Kira looked like she hadn't meant for this to happen. Huh, right.

Buffy had yelled at TJ then for some reason and Cyrus had stayed quiet through the whole thing.

_"This wouldn't have happened if you had made it clear to these douchebags that Cyrus was off limits."_

_Was he territory now? He felt so objectified._

_"I fucking did. I made it clear. Some people don't learn. Not until another beating." TJ had looked to the side at a cowering Devon attempting to get up._

_"Buffy, I'm going to fix this. Just let me handle it." Then, TJ was turning towards him, the grimace on his face quickly turning to concern and a softness settled over his eyes. Cyrus had been watching them._

_Cyrus stayed still, leaning back against the lockers and tightening his hold on his throbbing shoulder when TJ looked at him like that._

_"I'm sorry, Cy." TJ whispered with glassy eyes._

_Cyrus ignored him, looking behind TJ at Buffy._

_"I should've been here-" Buffy started, approaching him like he was a cornered animal and crouching down next to him, TJ followed her._

_"No, shut up. This is not your fault." Cyrus gritted out, flinching at how his torn lip stretched in the process._

_"I'll take you home. Is that okay with you?" TJ asked, one of his hands trembling as he reached out towards him._

_"Yeah." Cyrus rasped out, playing with a loose thread on his jeans._

_"Okay. How about you, B? Is that okay with you?" TJ turned to Buffy and Buffy nodded her head, gently caressing Cyrus' hair._

_When had they gotten so close? Had he been so out of it these past few weeks, he hadn't noticed that Buffy and TJ seemed like they cared about each other now, like they were best friends or something. A wave of jealousy washed over him, guilt and shame following for feeling jealous that her best friend was finally getting the respect she deserved from TJ._

_"Do you want me to come with?" Buffy asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts._

_"No, I'll be okay. Thanks for…" He looked over at the spot where Devon used to be before he scurried off like a gutter rodent._

_"You should be thanking TJ." Buffy answered, a gentle smile on her face._

_A silence fell over as Cyrus refused to look at TJ or Buffy, instead opting to look down at his lap. TJ looked forlorn, rubbing at his eyes in frustration._

_"Okay, well, I'll call you. Okay?" Buffy said, clearing her throat trying to clear the air of awkward, and standing up._

_"Yeah."_

Instead of driving Cyrus home like he had promised, TJ had pulled into his own driveway and helped Cyrus into his house while Cyrus complained the whole time. Only when TJ had helped him onto the counter and pulled out a large first aid kit did he get real quiet.

So here they were, silent while TJ dabbed at a cut on his eyebrow and Cyrus flinched away once again, keeping his eyes low and scouring over the different bandages and sprays and cotton swabs TJ had pulled out of the briefcase kit.

"Your mom still a paramedic?" Cyrus asked, finally looking up at TJ. He had his tongue out while he focused on peeling the bandaid open and Cyrus couldn't help but melt a little.

"Try advanced care paramedic." He replied, smiling proudly and gently pushing the adhesive over Cyrus' brow. 

"Oh yeah? That must've been exciting…"

The blonde's face brightened, as if thinking back to the day when his mom got the promotion. He remembered it so perfectly; the smile on her gentle face and how warm she was when he pulled her into his arms. 

"I'm glad. Can you tell her I'm really happy for her?" Cyrus continued and TJ's face fell and Cyrus hated that he had been the one to take that proud smile off his face.

"Tell her yourself. She misses you and she asks for you. Still." There was a pleading tone in TJ's voice and Cyrus sighed. He knew he couldn't. It would be intruding, he was no longer someone Mrs. Kippen knew, he was a stranger. But instead of saying those things, he resorted to changing the subject.

"How about your dad? How is he?" 

It was like Cyrus had said something wrong because TJ looked like he had swallowed something foul.

"He's no longer a part of our life." TJ muttered through gritted teeth, beginning to gather the contents strayed around the counter and setting them back in the kit. 

"Oh. I'm...sorry." Cyrus lost all his words. The boy who was a gold medalist in comforting people lost all his words in front of ex-best friend TJ Kippen. 

"Yeah...he couldn't stand to live with his homo son." TJ whispered into the air as he walked over to the refrigerator and pulled an ice pack from the freezer.

Everything stopped all at once and Cyrus' head snapped up, his eyes widening.

TJ breathed to calm himself, turning around, back towards the boy sitting on his counter, and expecting the worst. He was met with tears. Cyrus was crying, his cheeks wet.

"C...Cy?" He dropped the ice pack, stumbling over to Cyrus and stopping right in front of me, his hands lingering over Cyrus' face. He didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't there for you. I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I'm sorry." Cyrus rasped out, wiping at his tears himself.

"No. No. Please don't cry. Cyrus, this wasn't your fault." _Fuck it_ and with that thought, he was cupping Cyrus' face and gently rubbing the pad of his thumb against the tears at the corner of his eyes.

This was the first time Cyrus was looking directly into his eyes since this whole thing started and TJ couldn't help it, he stared. He stared so long and hard that he didn't realize he was hovering way too close to Cyrus' face until he felt the boy's breath on his face. He rubbed at Cyrus' cheeks, right below the birth mark close to his nose, and he thought _fuck it_ for the second time that day and kissed the boy he loved so dearly. He didn't know if he ever stopped loving Cyrus, even before he knew he was gay. 

And love was such a fucking determined thing, it stuck with you, it lived under your skin. 

_Cyrus_ lived under TJ's skin like pumps and arteries and veins lived in the heart: always there and giving him life.

Just when TJ had started tasting rust, felt the wrong and realized he really shouldn't be kissing Cyrus when the boy had a busted lip, Cyrus was pulling away from TJ and pushing away from the counter and setting his feet back down onto the ground to find his bag and leave before he repeated his mistakes, got his hopes up. TJ was not having it though, not today and he pushed Cyrus back onto the counter, grabbing him around his waist like he weighed nothing and sitting him back down on the edge.

"TJ, I have to go, I have to-" Cyrus breathed out, a trickle of blood dribbling down his chin. 

"You always walk away from me, Cyrus Goodman."

"Well, you ran away from me." Cyrus looked up at TJ, betrayal and tears mixing in his eyes and a grimace twisting into his features as he licked his lips.

TJ opened his mouth to say something but by then, Cyrus was looking down, a slump to his shoulders and TJ sighed and went back to the issue at hand. 

Blood seeped through the bandaid and TJ pulled the soaked piece of plastic off of Cyrus' lip with a gentleness that Cyrus didn't think the boy had.

He opened the kit again and proceeded to do the same thing he did the first time to staunch the bleeding and just when he had stuck another butterfly bandaid over Cyrus' lip again, he broke the heavy awkward silence that had fallen over the kitchen.

"I fucked up and you said sorry, Cy. You do realize how bizarre that is, right?" TJ snorted like the past ten minutes hadn't happened. But the truth was he was hurting, Cyrus had rejected him and why wouldn't he, TJ was a mess, a fuckup, and he didn't deserve something as sweet and kind and beautiful as Cyrus Goodman.

It seemed like the floor had something TJ would never have again: Cyrus' attention.

"You know what's funny? I hated Buffy so much for having you by her side and having your smiles and attention but now, you're here, in front of me, and I still don't have any of that." TJ chuckled humorlessly, attempting to get some kind of reaction; a twitch of a finger, the flicker of an eye, a whisper of words. Nothing. The only thing Cyrus did was fill TJ's kitchen with his soft breaths and more silence.

So he waited another minute and then five. But Cyrus refused to acknowledge him or say something and his heart dived.

"Please just say something! Anything! Please, Cyrus, this is fucking killing me!" TJ exclaimed, cutting through the quiet and pulling at his hair. Regret and self-hatred foamed in his blood and turned his body into poison and he felt like his lungs had just gotten smaller, like there wasn't any room to breathe.

"Let me take you home then." TJ mumbled, a pain in his chest and his lips trembling as he pulled at the keys in his back pocket.

“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”

TJ stopped fumbling with his keys all at once, freezing, letting the words sink in.

"The Great Gatsby." He replied, trying to catch Cyrus' eyes but he still seemed to find the kitchen tiles interesting.

"Still a book nerd, I see." Cyrus scoffed, the amusement in his voice not matching the look of utter hurt on his face.

"So are you."

There was silence again, as if Cyrus was debating whether he should even say anything before TJ heard an audible gulp and his voice again.

"You broke my world when you kissed me the first time and then...just left. That's how I felt. Lonely. For the longest time, it hurt to go outside. It hurt to see you with your friends. I wanted to disappear. It was like I lost a part of myself and I was anxious that people would see that I no longer had it, no longer had you by my side and they'd laugh at me. Can you believe that? And it was like I was frozen, afraid to move on from the only person who looked at me like I meant something to them. I was so special to you, right? Special enough to leave out in the cold." 

Each word seemed to break Cyrus further and it was like he was back in August of '15, hiding under his bed and crying. A bumbling little boy staying up nights trying to figure out where he had gone wrong.

"Cyrus, please. I'm sorry! I know my apology means nothing to you. I've dealt the damage but I'm really sorry. Please. It wasn't black and white like you think. There were things-"

"What things, TJ? What fucking things?" Cyrus growled and it fueled a fire inside TJ he'd been holding back for too long and he yelled right back, exploded even.

"You know what! Dad couldn't stand it! He made jokes about gays, he talked shit about them! He didn't know he was living with one the whole time! I kissed you because I wanted to. I wanted to because I loved you. And I lost control of myself in that moment. You kissed back and I wanted to be with you. But then I thought about what people would think and what if it got back to dad and I freaked out and I ran!"

"So abandoning me was the solution. You couldn't talk to me about it? We could've…"

"I couldn't! I felt disgusted with myself, I couldn't accept myself and I knew if you found out about how I felt, you'd think I was disgusted of you too. I wasn't and I'm not. I just didn't wanna hurt you. I'm sorry, Cyrus. I came out to my dad and he called me a fag and threatened to kick me out and I was ready to pack up and live on the streets and I was only 14- Mom kicked him out instead, filed a divorce and everything and for the longest time, I wanted to die for tearing my family apart. You think I wanted you to be a part of something like that? Someone so broken and stupid deserves nothing, certainly not someone like you." 

There was silence again. Cyrus blinked at him a few times and TJ breathed like he'd been running a marathon. 

"Okay." 

"What?" TJ met Cyrus' eyes and there was understanding there, like he knew what it was like to be afraid. Of course, he knew, Cyrus was openly gay in a school scattered with bullies and homophobes and those who did accept him for him were few and far.

"Okay, I forgive you. I forgive you. Don't make me change my mind." Cyrus mumbled softly, a soft smile curling up on his face. "You could've started with that and maybe we could've been friends the whole time."

"Yeah, okay. But it's never that easy with you. So what do I do to get you back?" TJ asked.

"I don't know if we'll ever have the same thing but maybe try...just being my friend. And don't kiss me again."

"Like ever?" TJ asked jokingly, but the look on Cyrus' face seemed to tell all. He wasn't ready or it was too hard to forget what had happened after the kiss in the park. 

"Okay. Don't answer that. Deal." TJ brought up his hand for Cyrus to shake and this time, Cyrus met his hand in a gentle hold, giving him a genuine smile and TJ's insides melted. How long had it been since TJ had seen that sweet, tender smile directed at him?

It already felt like somebody had pulled out a needle and thread and stitched the festering wound on both their hearts closed and pasted a big bandaid over it, whispering sweet comforts to help its mend.


End file.
